Visa is preparing to deepen its role in the digital asset economy, with CEO and Chairman Alfred Kelly outlining plans to enable cryptocurrency trading across the company’s network. Speaking during an earnings call with analysts, Kelly said the payments giant sees growing reasons to engage with crypto as the asset class becomes increasingly recognized as a legitimate means of exchange.
Kelly argued that Visa’s global footprint, partnership-driven model, and trusted brand place the company in a strong position to help make cryptocurrencies safer and more practical. In his view, the company is not only looking at crypto from the standpoint of asset access, but also from the perspective of broader payment utility.
Two-part strategy for the crypto market
According to Kelly, Visa is separating the market into two distinct categories: cryptocurrencies and digital currencies. The first category includes assets he described as “digital gold”—tokens that are primarily held as investment assets rather than used extensively for day-to-day payments.
For this segment, Visa plans to work with wallets and exchanges so users can buy cryptocurrencies using Visa credentials or cash out those holdings onto a Visa credential and then spend fiat currency through the company’s merchant network. Kelly said this would allow users to convert digital asset value into spending power across the approximately 70 million merchants that accept Visa worldwide.
He noted that this model is similar to Visa’s earlier efforts to connect with closed-loop wallets such as Line Pay and Paytm, suggesting that the company sees crypto access as an extension of its existing platform strategy rather than a completely separate business line.
Stablecoins and CBDCs seen as payment-focused digital money
The second category in Visa’s framework is digital currencies, which Kelly said includes fiat-backed digital currencies such as stablecoins and central bank digital currencies. Unlike the “digital gold” segment, these instruments are viewed as having stronger potential to function directly in commerce.
Kelly said these emerging forms of digital money could eventually be used in global trade much like traditional fiat currencies. That distinction is important because it shows Visa is thinking beyond crypto trading alone. The company is also evaluating how blockchain-based representations of sovereign or fiat-linked money might fit into mainstream payment flows.
This framing highlights Visa’s attempt to address two separate but connected opportunities: first, helping consumers enter and exit crypto markets more easily; and second, supporting the development of payment rails for stablecoins and future CBDCs.
Existing card partnerships already point to scale
Kelly also disclosed that 35 organizations had already chosen to issue Visa cards. Those partners include major digital asset platforms and wallet providers such as crypto.com, Blockfi, Fold, and Bitpanda. According to him, these wallet relationships represent the potential for more than 50 million Visa credentials.
That figure suggests Visa is already building a sizable bridge between crypto-native services and traditional card-based spending. Rather than waiting for digital assets to fully replace existing payment systems, the company appears to be positioning itself as the interface through which users can move between crypto holdings and conventional commerce.
A broader signal from a global payments leader
Kelly’s comments reflect a broader shift in how large financial and payments companies are approaching digital assets. Visa is not treating all crypto-related products as a single category. Instead, it is distinguishing between assets mainly used for investment and digital currencies that may become more integrated into everyday payments.
That distinction may shape how the company develops future products, partnerships, and infrastructure. Investment-oriented crypto services could center on purchasing, holding, and liquidating assets, while payment-oriented digital currency services could eventually support settlement, cross-border transactions, and merchant acceptance.
For the market, Visa’s position carries symbolic weight. As one of the world’s largest payment networks, the company’s willingness to expand crypto-related services signals that digital assets are becoming harder for mainstream financial infrastructure providers to ignore.
At the same time, Kelly’s remarks remain focused on network enablement rather than speculation. Visa’s strategy, as described, is built around making crypto safer, more useful, and more compatible with the payment habits consumers and merchants already understand.
If executed as outlined, the plan would allow Visa to participate in both sides of the digital asset transition: the current phase, where many cryptocurrencies are still treated largely as stores of value, and the next phase, where stablecoins and CBDCs may increasingly be used as tools for real-world commerce.